Ancient Legacy
by jaina-lotr
Summary: After finding themselves locked in a room with no way out, Ronon, Rodney, and Daniel must figure out how to use the only other thing in the room, an Ancient device. But, when Daniel touches the device something happens that none of them were expecting.
1. Chapter 1

**author's note:** So, this story has been floating around in my head for a while and I decided that I would finally write it. It should only be a couple of chapters long. It should also be funny! So, yeah, I hope you like this and please drop a review!

**disclaimer: **I do not own any part of Stargate SG-1 or Stargate Atlantis.

* * *

**Ancient Legacy**

**Chapter 1**

"Why am I here, again?" Doctor Daniel Jackson asked looking around the room they were in.

"Because we needed someone that can read Ancient," Lt. Colonel John Sheppard replied.

"I can read Ancient," Doctor Rodney McKay called from where he was hunched over some device, "and so can a lot of people on Atlantis."

"Okay, we needed someone that can read Ancient very well."

Lorne's team had been sent to this planet a couple weeks ago and had discovered the device. It was located in a large, rectangular room. They had searched the rest of the room, but it soon became apparent that the device was the only thing present.

After a preliminary study of the device they were able to determine that it was definitely of Ancient design. The only problem was that no one could figure it out. There weren't even any symbols on it anywhere that gave any indication as to the purpose of the device or how it worked.

So, they had called in the Ancient expert. Elizabeth was hoping that with Daniel's help the device could be figured out. Of course, Rodney took that as an insult, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Which was why Sheppard and his team along with Daniel were currently back on the planet. McKay was certain that he could get the device to work this time, so he was currently working on it, although they had no idea what exactly he was doing. He wouldn't let any of them get close enough to see.

"I still don't see why I'm needed. I mean there is no Ancient _to _read," Daniel said indicating their surroundings.

"Not yet," McKay grumbled walking past them to dig around in his pack for something. "This _is_ an Ancient device-,"

"Yeah, I noticed that," Daniel cut in.

"_And_, when I get it turned on," McKay continued shooting a glare at Daniel, "then there will be Ancient to read."

"How can you put up with the man?" Daniel asked Sheppard after McKay had gotten back to work.

"He's usually not this bad," Sheppard replied.

"There's nothing else here," Ronon said as he and Teyla walked into the room.

"Nothing at all?" Daniel asked.

"Nothing of Ancient origin," Teyla confirmed.

"So, unless McKay can figure that thing out-,"

"I _will_ figure it out," Rodney interrupted Daniel.

"Riiiiiiiight."

"Oh, hey, what's this?"

"You find something, Rodney?" Sheppard asked.

"Yeah, it looks like a button."

"You probably shouldn't push it," Daniel said in warning.

Rodney just ignored Daniel and pushed the button anyway. He straightened and looked around the room before looking at Daniel.

"Nothing happened."

Just then a low rumbling began. They turned to see a rather large stone door slowly closing over the only way in and out of the room.

"Everyone out, now!" Sheppard yelled.

They all began running toward the door. Right after Teyla ran through the ground began to shake. She stopped just outside the room and turned to make sure the rest of them made it out.

By the time Sheppard made it to the door the ground was shaking so violently that it was difficult to stay standing. He looked back just in time to see Rodney stumble. Daniel ran back to help him up, but ended up being yanked off his feet by the panicky physicist. The last thing Sheppard saw before the door closed was Ronon making his way over to the others.

The door closed with a resounding thud sealing the three of them into the room. The floor stopped shaking shortly after.

"You okay?" Daniel asked Rodney.

"I think so," Rodney replied.

"Ronon?" Daniel asked the other man.

"I'm fine, you?"

"Fine."

"What about Sheppard and Teyla?" Rodney asked looking at the door.

"They made it out," Ronon answered.

"Sheppard, Teyla, do you copy," Daniel said into his radio. The only response was static. "Well, that's not good."

"The door is probably too thick for the signal to penetrate," Rodney said.

"Please tell me we are not stuck in here," Daniel said as he got to his feet.

"No, of course not," Rodney replied also standing. He made his way back over to the device, found the button and pressed it again. Nothing happened.

He pressed it again. Still nothing. He frantically began hitting the button.

"Oh, crap," Rodney muttered.

"Oh, no," Daniel said walking over.

"Oh, yes."

"You have got to be kidding me."

"What?" Ronon asked.

"We're stuck in here," Rodney answered.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note:** Okay here's the second chapter. And what really surprises me is that I just sat here and wrote it in about an hour. And I'm getting really excited. Man when i was rereading the first chapter to remember what had happened I almost felt like I was reading someone else's story. I mean this has to be one of my better written stories. I also kinda changed where I was going with this story too. But, I've had this one idea bouncing around in my head for a while now and this story presented the perfect opportunity for it. That and it just kinda went in that direction anyway. I won't tell you what that idea is yet. I want you to guess and the person who gets it right, well, I'm not sure what the prize should be. Maybe the getting the next chapter earlier than everyone else? (That and I don't actually have a beta reader so if anyone wants the job just let me know). Oh, and I've decided that I don't really like the title, but I'm not sure what to call it so suggestions would be nice. Anyway, i really hope you enjoy this chapter and please drop me a review to let me know what you think!

disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG-1 or Stargate Atlantis.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

"Rodney, I told you not to touch the button," Daniel said, quickly becoming irritated with the scientist.

"I didn't think anything would happen," Rodney replied sounding just as irritated as Daniel felt.

"Something always happens, Rodney."

"Well, it's not like this is my fault."

"What! How can you say this isn't your fault? You're the one who pushed the dang button!" Daniel practically yelled.

"Well, I only pushed because you told me not to!" Rodney was yelling now.

"Why don't you try and work on the device again, McKay," Ronon said stepping between the other two. Of all the things Ronon had done in his life never had he thought he would have to play mediator.

"Yeah, just try not to kill us while you're at it," Daniel said glaring at Rodney.

Rodney returned the glare, but didn't say anything. After a couple of seconds he finally moved over to the device and began studying it once more.

Daniel walked over to the other side of the room wanting to be as far from Rodney as he could be at the moment.

Ronon wasn't sure what to do or think. All he did know was that he really didn't want to be stuck in a room with these two for very long.

* * *

A couple hours had passed and Rodney was no closer to figuring out the device than he had been before. As far as he could tell the only thing the device did was shut the door when the button was pushed. Now he just had to figure out how to open the door, but that was proving to be very difficult.

Ronon just kind of wandered around the room from time to time. There was nothing to do and he was bored out of his mind. He had tried to help Rodney, but the other man had just snapped at him to go away. He had even tried to talk to Daniel, but for once the archeologist wasn't very talkative.

Daniel was sitting on the floor; his back leaned against the wall staring at the device Rodney was still puttering around. For some reason it seemed familiar to him. He really felt like he should know what it is, but he didn't. He was sure he had never seen the device before, so why would it be familiar?

"Well, I can't figure this thing out," Rodney said giving the device a contemptuous look. He was really starting to hate this thing.

"What do you mean you can't figure it out?" Ronon asked.

"I mean that I can't get it to do anything. All there is, is that button, and I think we all know what that did."

"Wait a minute," Daniel said, getting up and walking over to them, "I thought you could get anything to work McKay."

"What would make you think that?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that you said it."

"Well, I may have . . . exaggerated a bit."

"A bit?"

"Okay, a lot. But, look this thing doesn't make any sense. There is only the one button and all it did was close the door."

"Well, it has to do something."

"Okay, Mister 'I'm the expert on the Ancients', why don't you see if you can figure out how to get it to work," Rodney said sure that Daniel wouldn't have the first clue as to how to go about making the device work. It didn't matter that he didn't either.

Daniel stood there for a moment looking at the device. "It seems familiar," he said quietly after a while.

"Familiar? As in you've seen this before?" Rodney asked, at Daniel's nod he continued. "How can this be familiar if this is the first time you've seen the device?"

"I don't know," Daniel replied, "but I feel like I should know what it is."

"And do you?"

Daniel just shook his head.

Rodney stood there thinking. There had to be a way to get the device to work, but he had yet to figure that out. Now, Daniel says he recognizes the thing, but doesn't at the same time. How is that even possible? He was missing something, but he didn't know what that was either.

Ronon just stood there looking back and forth between the other two. Daniel was staring at the device, but Ronon couldn't read the expression on his face. Rodney was standing there looking as confused as Ronon felt.

"So, do we know what the device is or not?" Ronon asked after a while.

"No."

"Yes."

"What?!"

Daniel looked from Ronon to Rodney in confusion. Why had they both just yelled like that and why were they staring at him. "What?" He asked.

"You said yes," Rodney replied.

"To what?"

"I asked if we knew what they device was," Ronon began.

"And you said yes," Rodney finished.

"I did?" Daniel was confused.

"Yes, you did. Don't you remember?" Rodney asked.

"No. I don't even remember Ronon asking the question."

"Well, you were staring at the device rather intently," Ronon said shrugging. "You could have just been too distracted."

"No, I don't think you were," Rodney said looking at Daniel.

"So, then what?" Ronon asked.

"I don't know," Rodney replied still looking at Daniel. Rodney had this feeling that something was about to go terribly wrong for some reason and he had no idea why. But that same feeling was telling him that Daniel was going to be right in the middle of whatever was going to happen.

Daniel was having trouble focusing on the conversation. He was having trouble focusing on anything other than the device. It was almost like it was calling to him, beckoning him to come closer. It almost sounded like it was humming.

"Do you hear that?" Daniel asked suddenly.

"Hear what?" Rodney asked looking around to see if anything was making noise.

"Humming."

"Humming? Coming from where?"

"The device."

"The device isn't humming."

Daniel looked at Rodney in confusion. "Yes it is. I can hear it."

Rodney glanced at Ronon. "There is no humming," he said looking at Daniel again.

"I don't hear anything either," Ronon said.

Rodney was beginning to get worried. Daniel wasn't acting like himself. Just as he thought that the archeologist began walking toward the device in an almost trance like state. When he reached the device he stretched out a hand as if he wanted to touch it. Rodney was really worried now.

"Don't let him touch it," Rodney said to Ronon as they both rushed over and tried to pull Daniel away.

But somehow Daniel's fingertips managed to brush the top of the device causing a wave of energy to fling the three of them backwards.

Ronon landed hard, the air rushing out of his lungs. Of course it didn't help when one of the others landed on top of him. "Get off," Ronon muttered pushing himself up off the floor.

"Sorry," Rodney replied. He quickly stood up and made his way over to where Daniel lay motionless on the floor.

"Daniel," Rodney said shaking the other man gently and checking for a pulse.

"McKay?" Ronon asked kneeling down on the other side of the archeologist.

"He's alive, just unconscious," Rodney answered.

"So, what happened?"

"_Something_ happened; I'm just not sure what."

"Okay, but that device just did something and it only did it when Jackson touched it," Ronon said trying to work out what had happened, which was another thing he wasn't used to doing.

"It released a wave of energy. Why? I don't know. He almost seemed drawn to it."

"He said it was humming."

"Yeah that too. But, if it was going to respond to the presence of a person you would think it would have done something for me, Sheppard, or Lorne. I mean it's an Ancient device, it only makes sense that it would react to the presence of the gene, but it didn't."

"Jackson doesn't have the gene?"

"No, so that raises the question of why it reacted to him. What about him would make it do what it did?"

"He's died a bunch of times?" Ronon suggested.

"If it was just that then it would have reacted to Sheppard. Technically he's died too. No, it has to be something specific. Something that only Daniel has . . ." Rodney's voice trailed off, causing Ronon to look at him.

"McKay?"

"Ascension."

"What?"

"Ascension. That has to be it. The device responds to ascended beings."

"But Jackson's human, he was sent back."

"Maybe it recognizes the fact that he used to be, maybe he wasn't sent back all the way, I don't know, but ascension is the only thing that makes sense and Daniel is the only one to have ever accomplished that."

A low groan interrupted Ronon as he was about to reply to Rodney. They both looked down to see Daniel's eyes slowly open.

"Daniel? Are you okay?" Rodney asked quietly.

"Not really. My fron hurts."


	3. Chapter 3

**author's note:** Here's the next chapter. I don't really have anything to say about it other than I hope you like it and to please let me know what you think. So, enjoy!

**disclaimer:** I do not own Stargate SG-1 or Stargate Atlantis.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

John Sheppard was sitting on a bolder glaring at the door that separated him from the rest of his team and Dr. Jackson. He and Teyla had been continuously trying to reach them over the radio, but hadn't received a response. They had then reported in to Atlantis and returned with a couple more teams. Some of them were trying to figure out how to get the door to open, others were attempting to boost the signals of the radios to try and contact them, and the rest were searching for another way into the room. A few hours had passed since they had returned and there was still nothing.

"Colonel," Teyla said as she walked over. She had been with one of the teams searching for another way in. "This appears to be the only entrance."

"Yeah, I was afraid of that," Sheppard replied.

"Have they been successful in contacting them?"

Sheppard glanced over to where the scientists trying to boost the signal on their radios had set up shop. It looked like they were arguing over something. Great, they were arguing with each other instead of working on the problem.

"No," he said sighing.

He was separated from two members of his team and a member of the legendary SG-1 with no way to contact them. There was no way to know what was happening in there. Worse still was that there was no way to get any medical help to them if they needed it. It was frustrating not knowing.

"I hate waiting," Sheppard grumbled glaring at the door once again.

"As do I, Colonel," Teyla said quietly in return.

* * *

"Your what hurts?" Ronon asked confused.

"My head hurts," Daniel replied.

"That's not what you just said."

"What?"

"You said fron," Rodney said.

"I did?"

"Yes, you did."

Daniel was confused. He remembered getting trapped in the room and he remembered arguing with Rodney over pushing the button. He even remembered thinking the device seemed familiar. After that everything was a blur.

"Oh, well, fron means head," he said attempting to stand.

"Whoa," Rodney said catching his arm when he staggered.

"You okay?" Ronon asked coming up on Daniel's other side.

"I'm fine," Daniel answered.

Rodney rolled his eyes. There had been one time when he had been working with Samantha Carter and all she had talked about was how Daniel always said he was fine when it was obvious that he wasn't. It had been extremely annoying at the time. Although, he had always thought she had been exaggerating, but he was beginning to realize that she hadn't been.

"You are not fine," Rodney said. "You probably shouldn't even be walking around just yet."

"Look, McKay," Daniel replied turning to face the astrophysicist, "we don't have time to sit around worrying that there might be something cruvis with me."

"What?" Ronon asked glancing at Rodney.

Rodney ignored Ronon's question. Instead, he responded to what Daniel had said.

"Yes, we do need to worry because there is definitely something wrong with you."

"Well, right at this moment that doesn't matter. What does matter is finding a way to get out of this dang room!"

"Would you stop being the selfless hero for just one second," Rodney snapped back. No wonder the man had died so many times. He had absolutely no regard for his own life.

"McKay's right," Ronon cut it, "we need to figure out what's happening to you."

Daniel just glared at both of them. Taking his silence as acquiescence, Rodney went on.

"Okay, so we're all in agreement, we figure out what's happing to Daniel first, and _then_ we figure out how to get out of here. Right?" Rodney glanced back and forth between the two.

"Yeah," Ronon agreed.

"Fine," Daniel said still glaring at Rodney.

"Alright, so before we were all thrown across the room you thought the device seemed familiar, right?" Rodney asked Daniel.

"Yeah."

"Okay, Ronon and I had a chance to think about this while you were still unconscious."

"Get on with it, Rodney."

"So, we know the device was built by the Ancients."

"We knew that before we even came here."

"Yes, yes, I know. But, what we didn't know was that it didn't respond to the Ancient gene. Another thing we don't know is why it doesn't."

"Where are you going with this?" Daniel was beginning to get a really bad headache trying to follow Rodney's roundabout way of explaining whatever it was that he thought he had figured out.

"It responded to you," Rodney almost seemed excited. It also seemed like Daniel should know what he was talking about, but he didn't.

"Okay?" Daniel glanced at Ronon for help, but the Satedan just shook his head. Great, the only one that knew what was going on was Rodney.

"Ascension."

With that one word everything clicked in Daniel's mind. The device didn't respond to the Ancient gene, it responded to the presence of Ascended beings. That explained why it hadn't reacted to Rodney or Sheppard or the several other people with the Ancient gene that had been studying it. But it had, apparently, reacted to him. There was just one thing he didn't understand, though.

"Okay, so you're saying that you think the device was designed specifically to interact with Ascended beings?" Daniel asked wanting to clarify.

"Yes," Rodney answered quickly, seemingly more excited now that Daniel had caught on to his train of thought.

"That still doesn't explain why it reacted to me."

"You were ascended."

"Yes, were being the operative word. But, I'm not ascended anymore. I was sent back."

"I know, but maybe somehow the device can sense that you were or something, I don't know, but it's the only explanation."

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Daniel said lowering himself back down to the floor and letting his head drop into his hands.

"You okay?" Rodney asked as he kneeled down next to him. He even sounded worried.

"You know, I'm beginning to think you were on to something. Because I suddenly don't feel so good," Daniel replied his head still in his hands.

Rodney and Ronon shared a concerned glance.

"Alright, listen," Rodney said, "I also think I might know what's happening to you."

"What?" Daniel asked looking up at him.

"The same thing that happened to General O'Neill when he had the Repository of the Ancients downloaded into his mind."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note:** Okay, I know a lot of you are probably agravated with me and honestly I can't blame you. I can't believe I let it go this long without updating. It really is a bad habit that I need to do something about. Anyway, I am really sorry about the wait and I really wish I had more to give you than just this one little chapter. But, I can tell you that there will only be one maybe two more chapters before this is finished and hopefully I won't get hit with another severe bout of writer's block. Gosh that was jusy awful. I don't think I'm completely back from it yet, but I'm getting there.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, I really hope you like this chapter. I'm really happy with it. I was reading over what I had written and _I _was getting excited. It's kinda funny cuz when I read this story I have to remind myself that I wrote it. Hehe. Anyway, I hope the chapter is enjoyed by all who read and please let me know what you think, even if all you do is gripe at me for taking so long. _Any_ reviews are appreciated!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Stargate SG-1 or Stargate Atlantis.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Of all the reactions Rodney had been expecting to what he had just said laughter wasn't one of them. But, sure enough, as soon as the words had left his mouth, Daniel had just stared at him for a few seconds. And then he started laughing. Rodney glanced at Ronon, noticing that he looked just as bewildered by Daniel's reaction as he did.

"Look, I don't know why you're laughing because the way I see it this situation isn't even remotely funny," Rodney said.

"You're serious?" Daniel asked surprised as his laughter died off. "You honestly think that is what's happening?"

"Yes. Why else would you be spouting off Ancient every other word?"

"I am not 'spouting off Ancient every other word,' Rodney," Daniel said attempting to stand once again.

"You really shouldn't be moving around," Rodney said trying to push Daniel back down. But, even as far as Rodney had come since coming to Atlantis, and even though he wasn't quite himself, Daniel was still stronger than him. "Ronon, a little help."

"McKay's right," Ronon said moving over to help keep Daniel seated, "you really should rest."

"Rest? We should be trying to figure out how to get out of here," Daniel said still trying to get up.

"We will as soon as we figure out what's wrong with you," Rodney replied.

"I thought you already knew what was wrong with me," Daniel shot back.

"Well, I'm fairly certain that I'm right, but it is just a guess."

"So in other words, you don't have a clue what's going on."

"Maybe not, but I don't see you giving any input."

"Yeah, well, you won't let me up to see if I can figure out what's going on."

"Would you two stop it already!" Ronon practically yelled. Both Daniel and Rodney were staring at him in surprise. "Look, we are going to be stuck in this room for who knows how long until someone figures out how to open that door and I for one do not want to hear the two of you bickering the entire time."

"You know, I think that's most I've ever heard you say," Daniel said quietly.

"I was just thinking that," Rodney said grinning slightly.

"Is there a reason why we still can't contact them?" Sheppard demanded glaring at the scientists in front of him.

"The door is,"

"Too thick for the signal to get through, yeah I got that," Sheppard cut in. The scientist who had spoken took a step back as his glare intensified. "What I don't get is the fact that you idiots have been trying to boost the signal for the past few hours now and have gotten nowhere."

"We're doing the best we can, Colonel," another said glancing warily at her companions before looking back at him.

"Well, try harder," Sheppard ordered before stalking off.

"You shouldn't be so hard on them," Teyla said walking up to him.

"Why not? They haven't done anything productive since they got here."

"They are doing the best they can."

"Yeah, so they say, but come on, Teyla we both know that if it was us stuck in there and Rodney out here he would have it figured out already."

"Possibly," Teyla agreed, "but that is not the case. You should not take your frustrations out on the scientists.

"I know, I'm just worried. It's been hours since they got locked in there and we have no idea what's going on. And we have no idea how to find out what's going on either."

"I am worried as well John, but we must be patient."

"Yeah, I know, I'm just not good at the whole waiting thing."

Teyla just gently squeezed his arm before walking away. Okay, so they needed to be patient. He could do that. He glanced at his watch. It had just passed the five hour mark. Oh who was he kidding he couldn't do this.

"Okay, first things first, we determine exactly what's happening to you," Rodney said shifting so that he could get comfortable on the floor.

"Okay and how are we going to do that?" Daniel asked glancing from one to the other. He shook his head slightly when they both remained silent. "Right."

Rodney tilted his head to the side slightly. He had just thought of something that could very well prove his theory right, but he wasn't sure if it would work. And even if it did he wasn't entirely sure Daniel would go along with it. The man was the absolute definition of stubborn. Well, he would just have to try it anyway, without telling either Daniel or Ronon. Reaching for his pack, Rodney rummaged around until he found what he was looking for.

"Here," he said shoving the pen and paper toward Daniel.

"What's this for?" Daniel asked. He looked rather confused, but took the items anyway.

"I want to try something." Rodney replied.

"And that something would be…….?" Daniel asked his voice trailing off at the end obviously meaning for Rodney to fill in the blank.

"Just something," Rodney answered cryptically.

"I am not in the mood for riddles, McKay."

Rodney glanced at Ronon before turning his attention back to Daniel. He was beginning to notice that Daniel would alternate what he would call him by and he had a feeling he was figuring out why he did it. He would call him Rodney if they happened to be getting along, or at least not arguing. And he would call him McKay if he was getting particularly irritated with him. Like he was now, apparently.

"What's your plan, McKay?" Ronon asked looking slightly curious. Daniel glanced at Ronon before looking back at him expectantly.

"Well, I was thinking that you should write down whatever pops into your head when I say something," Rodney answered looking directly at Daniel.

"I swear, McKay, if you are trying to psychoanalyze me I will shoot you," Daniel said. Rodney gulped. There was no doubt in his mind that he had meant that.

"I'm not, honestly, I just think that this will help us determine what's going on."

Daniel just stared at him for a minute then sighed. "I don't see how, but whatever. So, let's go, ask me something."

"Okay," Rodney began. "Write down what you think when I say DHD."

Daniel gave him a look, but did as he was asked.

"Alright, now-,"

"Wait," Daniel said cutting Rodney off. "I'm not done yet."

"What?" Rodney asked glancing at Ronon.

Seeing Rodney's look, Ronon leaned forward to get a better look at what Daniel was writing. What he saw surprised him. Well, if that didn't prove McKay right then he didn't know what would. He was also beginning to get worried, which was not something that Ronon was comfortable being. He wasn't the one who usually did the worrying. After a couple of minutes Daniel finished what he was doing and then looked at McKay again.

"Okay, what's next?" Daniel asked.

"Wait, McKay, you should see this," Ronon interrupted before Rodney could say anything. He took the pad of paper from Daniel and handed it over.

"Whoa," Rodney muttered when he saw what was written on the paper.

"What?" Daniel asked.

"What….. How……. I," Rodney stuttered.

"What?" Daniel repeated a little more forcefully.

"What?" Rodney asked looking at Daniel and holding up the pad. He couldn't get anything else out.

"That's what I want to know," Daniel said looking from Rodney to Ronon.

"I think you may have short circuited McKay's brain," Ronon said with a slight smirk.

"Huh?" Daniel asked looking at Ronon.

"With what you wrote," Ronon elaborated. "It is a little surprising."

"What do mean 'with what I wrote'? I only did what Rodney asked me to," Daniel replied.

"So you have no idea what this is?" Rodney asked. Apparently his brain was functioning again.

"What what is?" Daniel was beyond confused. He honestly couldn't remember what he had written, but it was apparently something major from the way the two of them were acting.

"You just wrote out the technical specifications for the DHD, in Ancient," Rodney said.

"What?" Daniel asked surprised. There was no way that that was what he had written. "I don't even know the 'technical specifications' for a DHD in English, let alone Ancient."

"Then how do you explain this?" Rodney asked shoving the pad back toward Daniel.

"Oh," Daniel commented when he looked at the paper again. Sure enough the page was covered in Ancient script and it was definitely technical considering more than half of what was written went way over his head. Which, if he really thought about it was kind of strange considering that he was the one that had written it.

"Yeah, 'oh'," Rodney said. "I think it's safe to say that I'm right." Although it was said as a statement, to Daniel it almost sounded like a question. And it surprised him because it looked like Rodney really hadn't wanted to be right this time.

"Yeah, probably," Daniel replied. "And now that we've gotten that out of the way maybe we can work on getting out of here."

"Yeah," Ronon agreed.

"I have an idea about that too," Rodney said nodding while digging around in his pack once again.

"Somehow, that doesn't make me feel any better," Daniel said although he was smiling slightly so Rodney was pretty sure he was joking.

"So, McKay, what's this idea of yours?" Ronon asked.

"Well, it's not so much an idea of how to get out because I honestly don't know what to do about that, but I have an idea to contact whoever happens to be out there," Rodney said pointing toward the door before once again digging through his pack.

"You're going to try to boost the signal of our radios," Daniel said.

Rodney glanced up mildly surprised that he had been able to figure it out what he was planning to do that quickly. The he remembered that the man had three PHDs, so obviously he wasn't stupid.

"Can you do that?" Ronon asked not even bothering to ask if that was the plan, he was apparently just assuming that it was.

"I don't know, maybe. I don't have the right equipment for it really, but I'll just have to make do with what I have," Rodney replied.

"Well, it looks like it shouldn't be too hard to do," Daniel muttered. When Rodney looked up he noticed that Daniel had already taken his radio apart and was studying the insides. "Hey, you have video camera right?"

"Yeah," Rodney replied confused, but began looking for the camera anyway. "Do you even know what you're doing?"

"Surprisingly, yes, I do," Daniel replied glancing up. "Now that I know what's going on up here," he continued pointing to his head, "things are just starting to make sense."

"Are you sure," Rodney flinched when Daniel yanked a wire out of the radio.

"Don't worry, Rodney, this is nothing considering I'm pretty sure I could probably build a ZPM right now if I had the right materials."

Rodney just stared. He had to have heard wrong because there was no way that Daniel had just said what he thought he said.

"A ZPM?" Ronon asked incredulously. Obviously he hadn't heard wrong.

"Yeah," Daniel answered still working on the radio. "Can you hand me your tablet?"

"Sure," Rodney replied automatically, grabbing the tablet and handing it over.

Ronon glanced over at him and Rodney could tell that they were thinking the same thing. What else was going on in Daniel's head? What other knowledge did he possess?

"Colonel!"

Sheppard jerked awake when he heard the shout. He honestly hadn't meant to fall asleep and he was furious with himself for it. His people were missing, and so was a member of SG-1. General O'Neill would never forgive him if something were to happen to Daniel.

"What is it?" Sheppard asked as he made his way over to the group of scientists he had chewed out earlier. The mood around the table was decidedly different from what it had been not too long ago. They were excited about something.

"We have Dr. McKay on the radio," one of the scientists replied with a huge grin on her face.

"You got through?" Sheppard asked snatching the radio away from the woman.

"It wasn't us, sir, somehow they figured out how to contact us."

"_Hello?!"_ Rodney's voice came over the radio a decidedly irritated quality to it.

"Rodney?" Sheppard said into the radio. He spared a glance for Teyla who had just walked over obviously having heard the news.

"_Well, who else would it be?"_

"Are you all right?" Teyla asked before Sheppard could reply.

"_Yeah, we're fine, well mostly, but our main problem at the moment is getting out of this room."_

"You still haven't figured that out?" Sheppard asked.

"_Obviously not considering we're still trapped in here."_

"Wait a second," Sheppard said as something that Rodney had said occurred to him. "What do you mean by mostly?"

"_What are you talking about?"_

"You said you were mostly fine."

"_Well, uh,"_

"_Just tell them, McKay," _Ronon said in the background.

"_But,"_

"_Oh for cryin' out loud give me that thing," _they heard Daniel demand. _"Ronon and Rodney are just fine, apparently I'm the one you need to worry about."_

"Are you hurt?" Teyla asked concern coloring her tone.

"_Not in the conventional sense. You see I kind of touched something I shouldn't have, it's a bad habit, and now my mind is being overrun by Ancient knowledge."_

Sheppard just stood there staring at Teyla. He was certain that they incredulous look that she was giving him was mirrored on his own face. What really got him though wasn't what Daniel had said, it was the way he had said it. So casual, as if this kind of thing happened to him all the time.

"Come again," Sheppard said.

"_The device," _it was Rodney who answered this time. _"It's designed to respond to ascended beings, which is why it did nothing for either of us. And because Daniel here used to be ascended it reacted to his presence. So, when he touched the device, it either unlocked the knowledge that was already locked in his brain or it downloaded a whole bunch in there. We haven't really gotten that part figured out yet."_

"Okay, that's not good."

"_No it really isn't, but unfortunately there isn't anything we can do about that right now."_

"How are you coming with the door?"

"_About as far as before, which means we have gotten absolutely nowhere. I have no idea how to get the door to open and I don't have any ideas on where to start with it either."_

"_And if the two of you keep arguing you're not going to figure it out,"_ Ronon said. It was obviously meant for Daniel and Rodney, but it carried through the radio clearly.

"You better keep them in check, Ronon," Sheppard said.

"_Easier said than done, but I'll do my best. Although, if Daniel ends up shooting McKay I better not be held responsible."_

Sheppard let out a breath. He really had no idea how to respond to that.

"Alright, just, uh, keep in touch. Every hour on the hour."

"_Yeah, yeah, yeah, we got it,"_ McKay said before signing off.

"Well, that was something," Sheppard said. "I need to go inform Elizabeth." And with that he walked off toward the jumper.

"Alright, now that that's taken care of we should get back to our main problem," Rodney said as he set the radio down.

"Yes the door that refuses to open," Daniel commented sarcastically.

"I don't see you coming up with any ideas," Rodney replied.

"Well, sorry, it's all a little jumbled up here," Daniel said pointing to his head.

Rodney and Ronon shared another glance. They were both worried and irritated. There was absolutely nothing they could do to help Daniel. The best they could do would be to get him back to Atlantis and they couldn't even do that because the door wouldn't open.

Rodney got up and headed over to the device again. Maybe now that he'd taken a break he would notice something he had missed the first few times he'd studied it. He highly doubted it though, but he had to do something. He couldn't just sit around doing nothing. That wasn't the kind of person he was. After a few minutes the others joined him.

"Are you sure you should be walking around?" Rodney asked Daniel.

"Honestly, Rodney, I'm fine, well not technically, but you know what I mean," Daniel replied.

"Right, so is the device humming at you again?"

"No."

"Wonderful."

"Did you find anything new, McKay?" Ronon asked.

"I've looked over every inch of this thing more than once and all I find every time is that button."

"The one that closed the door," Daniel added.

"Which is apparently all it does," Rodney said.

"So, there is no way out," Ronon stated.

"I have no idea," Rodney answered with a shrug.

"Then we really are trapped in here," Ronon practically growled.

"Not necessarily," Daniel said tilting his head to the side slightly. "I think I may know how to get us out of here, but you're not going to like it."

"How?" Rodney and Ronon asked at the same time.

"Well, with the knowledge I have now opening the door will be the simple part, but it's what we have to do before that has me worried."

"Why?" Rodney asked almost nervously. If it had Daniel worried then it couldn't be anything pleasant.

"Why can't we just open the door?" Ronon asked immediately after.

"We can't open the door because that device won't let us," Daniel began.

"Until we do whatever it is that has you worried," Rodney finished.

"Exactly."

"So, what do we have to do?"

"This stuff," Daniel said pointing to his head, "wasn't meant for any one person to possess. It's just too much knowledge. For one, it would kill anyone who had it because it's just too much and second it would make that person way too powerful."

"So, what are you saying?" Ronon asked.

"We have to share the knowledge."


	5. Chapter 5

**author's note:** Well, it's certainly been a while since I've updated . . . well anything really. But hopefully that will change. I have recently decided (after smacking myself upside the head for not thinking of this earlier) to not post any new stories until i have them fully completed and ready to go that way I won't take forever to update them. I think that plan will work out much better in the long run, especially considering I have a few new stories that I'm working on.

Anyway, enough of that. Here is a brand new chapter,which while it's not very long it's at least something, right? And fear not faithful readers I am pretty far into the next chapter already and I do believe that the inspriration for this story is flowing pretty good at the moment so hopefully it'll keep on coming. And it shouldn't be too much longer before this story is done, which will be exciting.

So, now that that is out of the way I'll shut up so you can get on with reading the chapter. Although, does anyone actually read these things? Well, it doesn't really matter one way or the other. So, new chapter go on and read. I hope you like it and please let me know what you think!

**disclaimer: **I don't own Stargate SG-1 or Stargate Atlantis. Believe me if I did you would know there would have been way more crossovers!

* * *

**Chapter 5**

"We have to what now?" Rodney asked. There was no way that Daniel could possibly have said what he thought he had.

"Share the knowledge," Daniel repeated.

"Why?" Ronon asked. "I don't see why you can't just open the door."

"Look, I just told you that while this stuff is in just one person's mind the door will not open. The only way to do that is to share it so that way no one person has all of the knowledge. Yeah sure we'd all end up being a whole lot smarter than we already are, but not so much that we could bring about the end of the galaxy, well galaxies, I guess I should say."

"Okay, I will admit that pressing that button in the first place was a mistake, but this, this is just stupid," Rodney said. "There is no way that that is going to happen. We'll just have to figure out how to open the door without doing . . . that." His hand waved in a vague gesture directed toward the device.

"There is no other way to open the door," Daniel countered. "So either we share the knowledge or we stay stuck in here. And I'm pretty sure you can figure out what that means."

"We would all die," Ronon said.

"Exactly," Daniel agreed.

"No, this is insane," Rodney said moving away from the other two. "This is the stupidest plan in the history of stupid plans. I mean this is one of those ideas that's just so insane that it _won't_ work!"

"Rodney," Daniel began, but he was cut off before he could get any farther.

"No, no there is no way that I will be any part of that. It's insane, crazy, completely and utterly the wrong idea, there's got to be something else we can try, something that won't end in disaster."

"How many times do I have to tell you that there is no other way?" Daniel asked.

"Don't be ridiculous there's always another way, we just have to find it. We just need to sit back and think rationally about all of this."

"That'll take time," Ronon pointed out.

"Well of course it'll take time. It always takes time to come up with a plan that won't end with one or all of us dying in some terrible and completely unnecessary way."

"McKay," Daniel said and with the tone used Rodney knew he definitely should shut up, so he did. "In case you hadn't noticed we're kind of running out of time, so we really don't have any to sit around trying to think of something else that I know for a fact won't work. I've told you already several times that there is only one way that door is going to open. I, for one, don't particularly feel like dying today so if you don't shut up so we can do this, I'm going to come over there and knock you out and then do it anyway. So, you decide, McKay, do you want to be awake for this or not?"

Rodney stood there just staring at Daniel. He kept trying to tell himself that Daniel had to be joking; he would never do something like that. But the way Daniel was glaring at him didn't really seem to make that true. Then he thought that surely Ronon wouldn't let that happen. But when glanced over at the Satedan he could tell that if Daniel did decide to knock Rodney out he wouldn't stop him. In fact it almost looked like he would help.

Taking a deep breath, Rodney finally answered. "Okay. So what do we have to do?"

* * *

"Rodney, this is Sheppard, come in."

"_What?" _Rodney's voice emanated sharply from the radio.

Sheppard shared a glance with Teyla.

"No need to snap at us McKay."

"_You need to calm down, Rodney," _they heard Daniel say over the radio.

"_Yeah, calm down, as if I could actually do that," _Rodney responded.

"You sound upset Rodney," Teyla said into the radio probably hoping that she could somehow get McKay to cool off.

"_Well, of course I'm upset. We finally have a plan to get out of this infuriating room, but Sheppard had to go and interrupt," _Rodney said.

"I told you to check in," Sheppard answered.

"_Yes I know. Every hour on the hour, but it hasn't even been an hour."_

"Actually the hour ended seven minutes ago."

There was a slight pause on the other end before Rodney finally responded.

"_Oh."_

"Yeah, 'oh,'" Sheppard said rolling his eyes. "Now you mentioned a plan for getting out?"

Another pause.

"_Yes."_

"So what's the plan?"

"_Well, I'd rather not say."_

"And why is that?"

"_Because it's a bad plan, but it's the only one we have and if I tell you what it is then you'll most likely insist that we don't do it."_

"What?"

"_Nothing, nevermind. Look, we have a plan, which is more than we had an hour ago and if it works out then we'll all be fine. . . I hope."_

"You hope?" Sheppard said but was obviously ignored considering there was a conversation going on, on the other end of the radio. He and Teyla shared another look.

"_Rodney, I've told you that this plan will work,"_ they heard Daniel say.

"_Yes, so you keep saying, but you are the one that's messed up in the head at the moment."_

"_Messed up in the head?" _Ronon asked in the background. But it seemed that he was ignored as well.

"_And I've already told you that I will knock you out and do it anyway," _Daniel said.

"_Besides, McKay, you did already agree to it," _Ronon cut in again.

"_And that," _Daniel agreed.

"_Oh, whatever. I give up. Arguing with you, either of you, and winning is about as possible as slamming a revolving door,"_ Rodney muttered.

"Not if you're Chuck Norris,"Sheppard interjected with a grin.

"_What?" _Rodney asked.

"_What is he talking about?"_ Ronon asked only seconds later.

"_It's an Earth reference, and honestly Rodney I can't believe that you haven't heard it,"_ Daniel answered.

"I can't believe that you haven't heard it either, Rodney," Sheppard said.

"_And Sheppard," _Daniel said, _"I'm surprised you haven't made Ronon watch any of his movies."_

"You're right, I should," Sheppard agreed.

"_Alright, how about we skip the conversation and get on with things,"_ Rodney interrupted. _"We've checked in, we have a plan, now we have to actually _do _the plan, but we can't do that while talking about nonsense."_

"Fine, I'll let you go, but don't forget to check in next time," Sheppard said.

"_Yeah, yeah," _Rodney replied.

"One hour, Rodney."

"_Heard you the first time."_

"Just making sure."

"_One hour, got it. McKay out."_

And with that the radio went silent. Sheppard and Teyla stood there for a moment in silence. After a couple minutes Teyla broke the silence.

"John," she said.

"Yeah?"

"Who is Chuck Norris?"

* * *

After setting the radio carefully back onto the ground so as not to jostle any of the added bits to make it work, Rodney turned and glared at the device that was responsible for this mess. He honestly wished they had never found the thing in the first place. Okay, yeah he had to admit that Ancient knowledge would be an awesome thing to have, but he'd been down this road before and the only way that was going to end was with either his death or his ascension. Luckily, he'd thought of an alternative in the nick of time. But Rodney had that same feeling now, that this whole thing was going to end in disaster and not only would he die, but so would Daniel and Ronon. Three pointless deaths and all because he had pushed one stupid button.

"Rodney?" Daniel asked quietly. "You ready?"

"Would it change things if I said no?" Rodney asked back.

Daniel acted like he was thinking about it for a moment before shaking his head. "Nope."

"Well, then I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

Daniel nodded before turning his attention to the third member of their impromptu group. "Ronon?"

"I'm good," the Satedan replied.

"Alright then, let's get this show on the road," Daniel said. He then stepped up to the device and placed his hand on the top. A bright, white light shot up and hit the ceiling before spreading out to encompass almost the entirety of the room. The light dimmed suddenly into little twinkling lights that when looked at closely one could see that they were actually Ancient symbols.

Rodney took an involuntary step closer. Alright he had to admit that this was pretty darn cool. He reached up and poked at the symbol closest to him, his finger passing right through, but he as positive that he'd felt a tingle. Just as he was about to poke another symbol to see if it would be the same the whole thing changed. The lights shimmered briefly before shrinking back in and forming a screen that floated above the device. The Ancient that scrolled along the screen was moving much too fast for Rodney to follow, but it seemed as if Daniel was sorting something, although he had no idea what.

Ronon was always fascinated when Ancient technology was used and this time was no different. It always amazed him how one could use the technology with just their mind, but only of course if they possessed the gene. He also was having difficulty following what it was that Daniel was doing. Everything was moving and flowing much too fast for a normal person to keep up with, of course even if it was going a pace that he could follow he would never have understood. He didn't actually know Ancient, although he supposed that after today he probably would. This was probably going to be the most interesting this to ever happen to him, well, any of them.

Daniel was focused on sorting through all of the knowledge that was stored away in his head. He still didn't know it the device had put it there or if it was left over from his ascension, but that didn't really matter. When he had realized that this was going to be the only way that he and the others were going to be able to get out of the room he had thought of exactly what to give to whom. It hadn't taken long to decide that they should each get what they would relate to. So, he'd created three different groups, one for Rodney, one for Ronon and one for himself. The more science-y the stuff was then he sent that over to Rodney's spot. Fighting styles, techniques, and strategies, and the like all went to Ronon. Language, culture, and other related things he put in his pile. The more volatile knowledge, like ZPM manufacturing, and weapons, he distributed little bits to each that way they wouldn't be able to do anything major on their own.

"Okay, that should do it," Daniel said as he stepped back from the device.

"What exactly did you do?" Rodney asked glancing nervously from Daniel to the device and then back to Daniel.

"I sorted the knowledge into three separate groups," Daniel replied. "I figured it would be better if we each had the bits of knowledge that we'd be most interested in."

"Ah, that makes sense," Rodney said.

"So, now what?" Ronon asked.

"Now," Daniel said stepping back up to the device and replacing his hand, "I need the two of you to come over here and touch the top of the device."

Ronon moved over immediately and placed his hand on the top of the device. Rodney, however, hesitated.

"Are you absolutely sure about this?" Rodney asked.

"Yes, Rodney, I'm sure about this," Daniel answered.

Rodney sucked in a deep breath and then walked over and placed his hand atop the device before he changed his mind. When the symbols on the screen started flowing at crazy speeds once again he squeezed his eyes shut. His mind was stuck on an endless loop of 'This is a bad idea,' but that was cut off when a warm feeling spread from the top of his head all the way through his body down to the tips of his toes. That warm feeling was soon followed by nothingness.


	6. Chapter 6

**author's note:** Whoo, the next chapter is up. I almost feel bad about not putting this one up sooner because it's been done for a while now, but I'm trying to get myself into the habit of posting only when I have the next chapter written or almost written. Does that mean that I have chapter 7 done, you ask? Why yes, it does, but I won't post that until I get chapter 8 going. And hopefully that will be soon.

I keep getting distracted by other things. There are so many new ideas that hit me and won't leave me alone until I get them down. Although, none of those are complete either. But, after taking a break from this story because it wasn't flowing as well as it had been I think that my inspiration may have come back. I guess I'll find out when I start working on chapter 8.

I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, especially the middle part. I'm pretty sure that one is my favorite bit. I'd tell you what it's about, but that would just ruin it. I'm fairly certain you can figure out which part I'm talking about.

Oh, and because I just like to pile work on myself for some strange reason, this story is going to end up being much longer than I had intitally intended. But, I was hit with an idea and I thought it was way too good to pass up. Anyway, I'm going to stop now so you can get on with the chapter. I hope you enjoy it!

**disclaimer:** I don't own Stargate SG-1 or Stargate Atlantis, but it would be so awesome if I did.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Sheppard jumped to his feet and was running as soon as he heard the scraping of the door opening. He slipped through the gap and rushed over to the device. Daniel, Rodney, and Ronon were all sprawled on the floor and Sheppard quickly checked to make sure they were alive and breathing. Luckily, they all were, but they were unconscious. It was only a couple seconds later before Teyla and Beckett were there as well. Beckett began checking them over more thoroughly before confirming that they were all alright as far as he could tell. He wouldn't know for sure until they got them back.

"Well, I for one say we should get out of this room before the door decides to close again," Sheppard said.

And apparently everyone agreed with him. Daniel, Rodney, and Ronon were all quickly loaded on to stretchers, carried out of the room, and loaded into the waiting puddle jumper. It was only about ten minutes before they were all back in Atlantis. The three of them were quickly taken to the infirmary.

Elizabeth rushed down the steps to meet them casting a worried glance in the direction of the stretchers. "What happened?" She asked looking back at Sheppard and Teyla.

"They were able to find a way out of the room," Teyla answered.

"But I thought that there wasn't any way to open the door?" Elizabeth glanced between the two of them confusion swiftly mixing in with the worry that was still evident on her face.

"That's what we thought," Sheppard replied. "But a little over an hour ago I talked to Rodney over the radio and he said that they had a plan for getting out of the room."

"Well, it seems that the plan worked," Elizabeth commented.

"Yes, it apparently did."

They fell silent for a moment all three of them glancing at the hallway that led to the infirmary. Sheppard had no idea what had gone on in that room or what it was that they had done to get out, but he had a feeling that it was going to be bad and that he wasn't going to like it. And it had nothing to do with Rodney telling him so.

"John," Elizabeth said, finally breaking the silence. "You never said what the plan was."

"That's because I don't know what was," Sheppard said.

Elizabeth once again glanced between him and Teyla. "Rodney never told you what it was?"

"No, he did not," Teyla said.

"Why?"

"Because he said we wouldn't like it."

Elizabeth frowned slightly at that. She wasn't entirely sure what to think. Shaking her head she focused back on the people in front of her. "Well, I need to contact Earth and inform them of this. General O'Neill has been especially demanding the last few times we've contacted them."

"I bet he has," Sheppard replied.

Elizabeth just gave a brief nod before she turned and headed back up the stairs calling out to Chuck to dial the gate. Sheppard and Teyla quickly turned and made their way to the infirmary hoping that their friends had woken. And when they rounded the corner into the infirmary the first thing they heard were voices, easily recognizable voices. Sharing a relieved glance with Teyla, they made their way closer to the curtain that separated the small area from the rest of the room. Sheppard paused outside the curtain catching Teyla's arm so she would do the same so that they could listen in.

"I kept telling you, McKay, that it was going to work," Daniel was saying.

"I know you did, but it sounded incredibly ridiculous. You can't fault me for thinking that the plan was one that was just asking for something to go wrong," Rodney replied.

"Okay, fine, I admit that the plan as a little out there, but it was the only way we were going to get out of that room, which might I point out we wouldn't have been stuck in the first place if you hadn't pushed the button."

"Is all you two ever do is argue?" Ronon asked.

"It certainly seems like it, doesn't it," Sheppard said as he slipped past the curtain, Teyla following.

"You weren't stuck inside a room with them for hours," Ronon replied.

"It cannot have been that bad, Ronon," Teyla said. But the look Ronon gave her said otherwise.

"Maybe they just don't like each other," Sheppard suggested.

Daniel it seemed was about to nod in agreement when Rodney spoke up.

"No that's not true." He ended up with three people staring at him in bewilderment. Teyla just cocked an eyebrow in curiosity. "When the room started shaking and I fell you came back for me," he said pointing at Daniel.

"That doesn't prove anything," Daniel said in response.

"Yes it does."

"No it really doesn't."

"Oh, would you two just admit that you're friends," Ronon cut in.

Sheppard just shook his head. It had to have been an interesting experience to have been in that room. "So, that plan that you didn't want to tell me about before, the one that got you out of the room, what exactly was it?"

All three of them shared a glance and Sheppard could have sworn that they were having some sort of silent conversation. It was kind of weird. He glanced at Teyla seeing that she was just as nonplussed as he was.

"Well, you see after we got stuck in the room, Daniel touched the device," Rodney began.

"Which then either downloaded or unlocked a whole bunch of Ancient knowledge," Daniel continued.

"And the only way for us to get out was to share that knowledge," Ronon finished.

"So we did," all three then said in unison.

"That was creepy," Sheppard said after a moment of stunned silence.

"What was?" Rodney asked at the same time Daniel and Ronon said, "A little bit."

Sharing yet another look with Teyla, he had to wonder if he had just heard right. Sheppard shook his head again this time trying to wrap his mind around what he'd just been told. "So, you're saying that Daniel touched the device and ended up with a download of Ancient knowledge and in order to get out of the room you had to share the knowledge."

"Isn't that what we just said?" Rodney asked.

"So," Sheppard said ignoring Rodney. "What it comes down to is that the three of you have some Ancient knowledge now."

"Yep," Daniel answered.

"And you're not worried about this?"

"Well, Beckett's been running around performing every test he can think of on us just to make sure that we're not going to suddenly get the urge to do or build something before we suddenly die, but I know for a fact that we're all fine," Daniel said.

"And you are sure about this?" Teyla asked.

Daniel let out and exasperated sigh. "Like I've been telling Rodney, and Beckett, and pretty much everyone else since I came too, the amount of knowledge that we have isn't enough to kill us, so yes I'm sure."

Teyla nodded, but didn't seem entirely convinced, and she wasn't the only one. From the tone of Daniel's voice it was obvious that he had been repeating himself over and over again, but if what he said was true and they did possess Ancient knowledge then no one would really take them saying that they were fine at face value. It had happened with General O'Neill the first time and if it hadn't been for the Asgard he would have died then.

"Okay," Sheppard said, but he knew he didn't sound convincing. He'd wait for the test results before he fully relaxed. But at least they were out of the dang room. That had been very annoying.

* * *

The next day Sheppard found himself and Teyla in Elizabeth's office seated in the chairs across from her. Sheppard could tell by the look on her face that what she had to tell them was not something that he was going to like. That seemed to be happening a lot lately.

"I just contacted Earth and updated them on the new information that we have," Elizabeth began.

"I'm surprised you didn't immediately after I told you what Rodney, Daniel, and Ronon told me," Sheppard commented.

"I wanted to be sure so I waited until Dr. Beckett's tests confirmed it," Elizabeth replied.

"Makes sense," Sheppard said.

"And what was the response?" Teyla asked.

"Well, to say that they were surprised would be an understatement," Elizabeth said. "And now, of course, General O'Neill is even more adamant in his demands that Dr. Jackson return to Earth."

"Well, that's not gonna happen until Beckett releases them and that won't be for a few days yet."

Elizabeth nodded. "Yes, but General O'Neill's increased demands are not our biggest worry."

"I knew I wasn't going to like this," Sheppard muttered, although not quietly enough because both Teyla and Elizabeth heard him.

"Believe me John, you're not the only one," Elizabeth said.

"What is the news?" Teyla asked. She too agreed that this was turning into nothing but a time where all they were getting was bad news quickly followed by even more bad news.

"The IOA has _requested_ that Dr. Jackson, Rodney, and Ronon return to Earth as soon as possible." With the way that Elizabeth had stressed the word requested it was clear to both Sheppard and Teyla that is was not a request, but an order.

"They wish to gain access to knowledge that they now possess," Teyla said.

"There's going to be a lot of people who will want to get their hands on it," Sheppard stated.

"And that more than anything else is what has me so worried," Elizabeth said. That was all she had to say because Sheppard knew that there were powerful people on Earth and if they could steal the Stargate right out of Cheyenne Mountain then they could definitely kidnap three people.

* * *

About a week had passed before Beckett was fully satisfied that they were in fact just fine. So, they were finally let out of the infirmary, but he wasn't comfortable with sending them back to Earth yet. He still wanted to keep an eye on them.

Over the next several days it became a common occurrence to see the three of them together. In fact, it was seemingly rare to see any of them on their own. They had also spent quite a bit of time in Rodney's lab doing something. No one knew exactly what until Rodney had proudly presented a brand new fully powered ZPM to Sheppard and Elizabeth.

Sheppard held the ZPM at arms-length wondering if this was some sort of joke.

"You built this?" He asked still staring at the ZPM.

"Yeah, it wasn't that hard really," Rodney said.

"No the hard part was finding the right materials to build it with," Daniel added.

"And then, of course, a way to get it properly powered," Ronon finished off.

And now Sheppard was staring at them. This was another thing that he'd noticed. They finished each other sentences almost like they were thinking the exact same thing at the same time. And the weirdest part was that they did it with everything it seemed. It was like they were three different parts of the same brain.

"Oh, and we made some improvements," Rodney declared with yet another smug smile.

"Improvements?" Elizabeth asked as she took the ZPM from Sheppard.

"Yeah, this one is rechargeable," Ronon said.

"We have a rechargeable ZPM?" Sheppard asked.

"Not just one, we built four," Daniel said.

"Oh." Sheppard and Elizabeth shared a glance. Neither of them knew what to think about any of this.

* * *

Another week passed and it came time for the three of them to head back to Earth. Of course, it hadn't really gone over well when Sheppard had told them the news. All three of them argued saying that it was pointless as they could just record the information and send it to Earth that way. Sheppard had thought that that was a fairly good idea as he secretly wanted them to stay in Atlantis also. For one, Rodney and Ronon were members of his team, and two he had gotten really used to seeing Daniel around the place. That and he wasn't entirely sure that Ronon and Rodney would have actually let the archeologist leave.

They had taken their complaints and suggestions all the way to Elizabeth, but apparently she had already thought of all of that. Unfortunately, the IOA had shot everything she suggested down. They weren't going to be happy until Rodney, Daniel, and Ronon were in their clutches on Earth.

It had taken an extremely long time for them to gather their things, mainly because they were doing everything in their power to stall their departure. Unfortunately, they could only drag out their packing for so long. Now, they were stood in front of the gate with bags at their feet. Sheppard, Teyla, and Elizabeth stood with them. And none of them looked all that happy about it.

"Well, I suppose this is good-bye," Rodney said.

"What are you talking about, Rodney?" Sheppard asked. "We'll see you again."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"Rodney, you're just going to Earth to talk with the IOA and give them whatever it is they want. After that they'll send you right on back."

Rodney gave him a funny look, one which Sheppard couldn't decipher. He knew Rodney was a pessimist by nature and so he focused on the negative of every situation, but Sheppard was hopeful that this would turn out alright in the end.

"McKay thinks that they're going to 'study' us," Ronon said. And Sheppard couldn't help but stare and he was positive that others were too. Ronon had just used finger quotes. And he thought things couldn't get any weirder.

"And by study he means chops us into bits and examine the pieces," Daniel said a tad sarcastically.

Rodney nodded enthusiastically. And Sheppard had to admit that he wasn't the least bit surprised that Daniel and Ronon had known what was bugging Rodney. Not much, if anything, happened to one of them without the others knowing about it.

"I am sure that will not be the case," Teyla said reassuringly. "Colonel Sheppard is correct. When they are done questioning you, you will be sent back to Atlantis."

"I hope so," Ronon said.

"Me too," Rodney agreed. He then turned to face Daniel. "Hey, do you think they'll let you come back with us?"

"I have no idea," Daniel replied with a shrug.

"We'll just have to wait and see," Elizabeth interjected before another conversation got started. Not that she was happy that they were leaving, far from it. But orders were orders and this time these orders had to be followed. There was nothing any of them could do to change that.

The others only nodded, none of them knowing what else to say.

Elizabeth turned to look up at the control room. "Dial Earth."

There was only a slight hesitation before the first chevron was locked into place. After what seemed too short a time the eighth and final chevron locked and the wormhole surged to life. Then a round of hugs and handshakes were exchanged before Daniel, Rodney, and Ronon all picked up their bags and stepped through the gate.


	7. Chapter 7

**author's note: **Man, I'm on a roll right now. It's been how many days since I put up chapter 6? The key word there being 'days' as in not months. I'm very excited about this. I can only hope that the nexct chapter comes as quickly. Of course, that will only be if I can get chapter 9 written in a timely manner. So, we'll just have to wait and see.

Man, if I had fun writing the last chapter, I had even more fun writing this one. You'll know exactly what I'm talking about when you get to that part. It's hard to miss that one.

SeraphinXII, I know chapter 6 took a couple months to be put up, so no worries there, but did I give you a heart attack with this one? This may be the quickest I've updated something, I'm not really sure, but hopefully I can keep them coming.

Anyway, here is the newest chapter of Ancient Legacy and I hope you enjoy it!

**disclaimer: **I don't own Stargate SG-1 or Stargate Atlantis and I definitely don't own the IOA (who would want to), however I do own the representatives that I made up (they were a necessary evil for this story unfortunately).

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Unsurprisingly, the first thing to greet them when they stepped out of the wormhole was Jack O'Neill's angry yet worried frown. He was standing at the bottom of the ramp with the rest of SG-1 and General Landry behind him. As soon as they reached him he smacked Daniel upside the head.

"Hey," Daniel said indignantly as he rubbed his head. "What was that for?"

"That was for getting yourself into trouble yet again," Jack answered. "It never fails to amaze me how you can find trouble in the safest places."

"Well, it's not like I do it on purpose," Daniel replied.

"No, you just happen to be the biggest trouble magnet in two galaxies."

Daniel just gave Jack an exasperated look as if he'd had to deal with this many times. Although, Rodney was fairly certain that he had. O'Neill was very overprotective when it came to his friends.

"And you," Rodney actually jumped when Jack rounded on him and Ronon, "the two of you couldn't keep him out of trouble. You were locked in the same dang room with him for crying out loud."

"Jack," Daniel said beginning to sound like he was annoyed.

"What?"

"It's not their fault. If anything it's mine, especially since I dragged the two of them into this mess."

"Not on purpose," Rodney said.

"Well, no, but that doesn't really change the fact that in the grand scheme of things I'm the one at fault."

"Gentlemen," Landry cut in as he stepped forward. "I know that Dr. Beckett has given you a clean bill of health, but I would still like you to report to the infirmary. There will be a debriefing in one hour."

After that Landry headed out of the gate room leaving the rest of them standing there. Rodney figured that the rest of SG-1 would then swarm around Daniel and make sure that he was alright. They had even taken a step closer, but Jack circumvented them by grabbing Daniel's arm and leading him out of the room. Rodney shared a glance with Ronon before he gave SG-1 a half-hearted smile and followed the two men out of the room.

"This ought to be interesting," Rodney commented as they entered the infirmary and saw Jack standing next the bed Daniel was sat on.

"Yeah," Ronon agreed. It seemed as if Jack wasn't going to let Daniel out of his sight for the foreseeable future.

The two of them headed over and sat on the bed across from Daniel. Rodney hunched his shoulders and refused to look at Jack when the older man glared at them. Ronon just glared right back.

Luckily, it didn't take very long in the infirmary. Dr. Lam was aware of the tests that Beckett had run and was satisfied with those results so all she did was check their vitals and take a blood sample before releasing them.

"Jack, you don't have to keep following us around," Daniel said as they headed down the hall.

"I think I do considering that no one else seems to be capable of keeping you out of trouble." Once again Jack glared at Rodney and Ronon.

Daniel once again sighed in exasperation, but didn't bother replying. Rodney was a little put out because it's not like they forced him into the situation. Although, even if Daniel had told Jack that this whole thing was his fault, in reality Rodney knew that it was his. He was the one who had pressed the button and he'd only done it because Daniel had told him not to. But, Daniel wasn't the only one that had been affected and while Rodney knew that Jack knew that it was a little hurtful that he seemed not to care about either him or Ronon.

Ronon just frowned slightly at the back of O'Neill's head. He had a few choice words that he would like nothing more than to say to the General, but he held them back because the man was Daniel's friend. Other than that he found him to be very irritating and had no idea how Daniel could put up with him, or how he'd done so for several years.

There was silence for the rest of their trek to the briefing room. When they entered the rest of SG-1 was already there having taken up seats around the table. And as Rodney had expected them to in the gate room as soon as they were through the doors the others were up and surrounding Daniel to make sure that he was alright. Surprisingly, although he figured it was only because of Sam, the others actually asked about him and Ronon.

Their questions and the subsequent conversation was cut short when Landry emerged from his office. The hour he had given wasn't actually up yet, but considering that everyone was already there they began the briefing.

Daniel, Rodney, and Ronon then found themselves repeating everything that they had already told everyone back in Atlantis. Rodney thought that it was rather stupid to make them do this considering he knew full well that they were all aware of what had happened. That was the whole reason that they had been re-called to Earth.

* * *

Barely a day had gone by before the IOA swooped in to take over. They had sent four different agents, three to question Daniel, Rodney, and Ronon and one to oversee everything. Rodney, Ronon and Daniel weren't very happy with being questioned separately, but there was nothing that they could do about it. Of course it didn't really help that they were using holding rooms to do the questioning.

Rodney was directed into one room while Daniel and Ronon were directed to two others further down the hall. Rodney glanced nervously after the others before entering the room. He took a seat at the table and then forced himself to resist the temptation to fidget. It wasn't long after he'd taken his seat that the agent assigned to him entered the room.

"Good Morning Dr. McKay," the man greeted. To Rodney he didn't seem even remotely friendly so Rodney returned the greeting with a slight nod and grimace that was meant to be a smile. The man didn't seem to notice Rodney's discomfort.

"My name is James Matthews, but you can call me Jim."

Again Rodney didn't really respond. He didn't really like this guy; he was giving him the creeps. That and Rodney knew that the guy didn't even care about him; he was only there to pick his brain.

"Well, how about we get started," Jim said as he sat down across from Rodney seemingly oblivious to the fact that Rodney hadn't responded.

Rodney finally just gave in and let his snarky, difficult side come out. "Yes, let's. What would you like to know? Or better yet why don't you just cut open my head and take whatever you like?"

Jim looked up in surprise not really expecting that kind of reaction from Rodney. Rodney just raised an eyebrow in challenge wanting to know how the man would respond.

"Well?" Rodney demanded after a moment of silence. Jim just blinked. Rodney allowed himself a smug smile. He could so handle this guy.

* * *

Meanwhile Daniel was being questioned by a woman named Barbara Grange. And if Jim thought that Rodney was tough to deal with then he definitely wouldn't know what to do with Daniel.

"So, Dr. Jackson, could you tell me what happened inside the room?"

"I suppose so," Daniel said in reply. Barbara waited for him to continue, but he didn't.

"Um, I thought you were going to tell me what happened?" Barbara said questioningly.

"Oh, you meant now?" Daniel asked.

"Yes, if that's alright with you."

"Well, now that you mention it, no it's not really 'alright with me,'" Daniel said leaning forward slightly. "I have already had to repeat myself multiple times, most of them to Rodney and, frankly I'm getting kind of sick of it. So, if you want to know what happened then you can just read the report. I'm pretty sure it's all there."

Barbara blinked a few times before regaining her composure. "Dr. Jackson I would appreciate it if you could cooperate with me."

"I thought I was," Daniel replied. And from the twitch at the corner of his mouth she knew that he was having fun with this. He found it amusing trying to fluster her.

"Well, I think we have two very different opinions of cooperation."

"I'm pretty certain we'd have two very different opinions with a lot of things."

Barbara held in a frustrated sigh. If Dr. Jackson was refusing to be cooperative in that he wasn't going to tell her anything, she could only hope that the others were having more luck.

* * *

Ronon had been somewhat cooperative, but only up to a point. He'd gone into the room willingly enough, sat down where they told him to, but that was where it ended. As soon as he had sat down Ronon had slouched down in the seat stretching his legs out in front of him and crossed his arms over his chest. After that he just ignored the other man.

He didn't listen when the man introduced himself or when he began asking questions. He wanted no part of this and he was making that very obvious. No one had told him that he actually had to listen to or even answer the questions he was asked. Besides he'd already done that many times already. He'd probably spoken more in the past couple days than he ever had before.

Ronon knew that the man was slowly getting frustrated so he mentally began keeping time to see how long he would last. Surprisingly ten minutes passed before the man got up and left very clearly irritated. Ronon allowed himself a satisfied smirk as the door closed. And he knew that if he had gotten this guy so riled up he had no doubt that the others had been just as bad to their interrogators.

* * *

"This is useless," Robert Walker, the man who had been assigned to Ronon, said as he and the others were meeting to compare notes.

"I highly doubt that the one you had was worse than the one I had," Jim said.

"And I bet both of you had it easy compared to me," Barbara commented. "I still have a headache from the way Dr. Jackson kept talking in circles."

Peter Bergman, the man assigned to oversee things just sat back listening to his companions complain about their charges. He let them go for a while finding most of what they were saying to be highly amusing. He could only imagine that, whatever their plan was, Dr. Jackson, Dr. McKay, and Mr. Dex most likely had fun executing it. Finally, though, he decided that it was time to interrupt.

"Well, this just means that there's only one course of action for us to take now," he said.

"And what would that be?" Jim asked. He may have been the one to voice the question, but it was clear that both Barbara and Robert wanted to know the answer as well.

"We have to take them somewhere where they will cooperate."

"You mean take them away from the SGC?" Barbara asked.

"Yes, we can transfer them to our facility and then they won't be able to fall back on the SGC for support."

"I highly doubt General Landry will let that happen," Robert said.

"Not to mention General O'Neill," Jim added.

"When I'm done, they won't have any say in the matter," Peter said. "The three of them," he continued waving a hand vaguely in the direction of where Daniel, Rodney, and Ronon were, "possess the knowledge of the Ancients, the very people who built the stargates. So, whether they like it or not, we will get that knowledge out of them."

"So, how is this going down?" Jim asked.

"And when?" Barbara added.

Peter stood and headed for the door before answering. "I just have one call to make and hopefully it'll only take a few hours, if that to get everything arranged." And with that he headed out to make the call.

* * *

"They what?" Jack demanded staring incredulously at Landry.

"The IOA has been given permission to transfer Drs. McKay and Jackson and Ronon to their facility," Landry repeated.

"But, how?" Mitchell asked.

"They must have some pretty influential contacts to be able to get it all arranged this quickly," Sam commented.

"They do," Landry said. "Which is the reason that I haven't been able to do anything about it."

"So, just like that they're going to ship them off?" Vala asked.

"Come on, Hank, there's got to be something," Jack said.

"Afraid not. I even tried calling the President, but even that wouldn't get it overturned."

"Of course not, the President wants the Ancient knowledge just as bad as everyone," Mitchell stated.

"Have Daniel Jackson, Dr. McKay and Ronon Dex been informed yet?" Teal'c asked.

"Not yet," Landry replied.

"Oh, Daniel's going to _love_ this," Jack said.

"And there's absolutely nothing you can do?" Vala asked.

Landry sighed as he shook his head. He honestly wished that there was something that he could do. He knew he would feel better if the three of them were somewhere that he could keep an eye on them.

"No," he said. "At 0700 tomorrow they will be in the hands of the IOA."


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: **Okay, I know it's been a super long time since I've updated anything, but for a while there I couldn't access the files on my computer as the backlight on my laptop had gone out so I couldn't even see the screen and the battery is beyond dead and I have no power cord for it. But I now have a new computer and I was going over everything and found this chapter just sitting there and thought why not post it.

Now, I know lots of you will be disappointed because it might be a while before another chapter of Ancient Legacy (or anything else) will be posted, but just to clarify I will NOT abandon any of my stories. I've been pretty lacking in the inspiration department for a while, I've been trying to get out of it, but unfortunately this rut seems to be pretty deep. But I promise I will finish my stories eventually.

Anyway, I will sign off now so you can read. I hope you enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Stargate SG-1 or Stargate Atlantis.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

"They what?!" Daniel asked his reaction to the news almost a perfect reflection of Jack's.

"They want to ship you off," Jack said. "All three of you."

"They want to or they are?" Daniel asked catching onto the bitter note in Jack's voice.

Jack hesitated slightly. He knew that Daniel was not going to like this, none of them did. "They are," he said confirming Daniel's suspicions. "They'll start the process within a few hours."

"The process?" Daniel asked. "It's not like we're property that they have to store correctly or it'll break."

"Well, I'm beginning to think that to the IOA that is exactly what you are," Jack replied.

* * *

In just a few hours, Jack was proved right as the IOA representatives returned with transportation for the three of them. Whatever the reason was that they had decided to keep them separated throughout the questioning must have carried over because they were going to transport them in three separate vehicles. Luckily, though, they let them gather up some of their possessions because there was no way to know how long they would be there.

Daniel, using that very excuse, did his utmost to draw out his departure. He claimed that there were books and reports and things that he needed from his office. After all, all the IOA was supposed to be doing was questioning them, so there was no reason that he couldn't still do his job throughout the process. And because of the way Daniel made things sound there was no way that the IOA could refuse without making themselves look bad. So, there was nothing they could do but agree to let Daniel bring along some of his work.

Ronon, at first, had flat out refused to go. But, as he very soon found out, he didn't really have much of a say in the matter. He would be going whether he liked it or not. That left one very unfortunate airman with the job of escorting Ronon from his quarters on base to the vehicles that the IOA had provided for their transportation. So, Ronon did the only thing he could think of to stall leaving. He stared down the guy that had been assigned to escort him to the waiting vehicles. The poor officer just stood there stiffly at the door not knowing what to do.

Rodney, unfortunately, didn't have anything to use, he had no office to rummage through for things that he absolutely had to have and he wasn't intimidating in a way that the personnel here on base would leave him alone for fear of what he may do if provoked. He'd even whipped out his snarky, sarcastic 'I'm way smarter and therefore better than you' personality hoping that maybe they'd think he was too much to deal with or just annoying enough that they would leave him alone, but even that hadn't worked. And for that reason Rodney was the first one to go. He really didn't like that.

* * *

Peter Bergman stood to the side overseeing the preparations. He was fully aware of the fact that the SGC had tried to fight the transfer orders, but he knew that they would not be able to. The people he worked for always got what they wanted and this time wasn't going to be any different.

Peter turned and watched as Dr. McKay was brought over to the first vehicle. They had decided to keep them separated, not for the reasons that everyone else thought, but because it would be much easier to execute the plan. Dr. McKay was doing his best to glare at everyone in sight, but Peter could tell that he was still nervous.

The airman escorting Dr. McKay tossed the bag he was carrying into the back of the SUV before slamming the door shut. After that he held the back passenger side door open and McKay could do nothing else but climb inside.

A couple minutes passed before James Matthews, who insisted to everyone he met to call him Jim, appeared. He nodded in Peter's direction before he climbed into the front passenger seat. As soon as everything was ready they headed out.

Peter watched the SUV drive away smirking the entire time. Everything was going according to plan. Pulling out his phone he glanced around to make sure that no one was within hearing distance and then dialed a familiar number. It rang five times before the other end was picked up.

"The first one is away." Not waiting for a response, for he knew there wouldn't be one, Peter flipped his phone shut and then turned and headed back into the mountain. He had to find out what was taking so long with the others.

* * *

Once again Jim was apparently trying to be friendly, but Rodney still thought he was slightly creepy. So, Rodney just stared out the window and ignored everything else. He was mad at Jim, at this whole situation, but ultimately he was mad at himself. He knew that if he hadn't been so petty then none of this would be happening. Even though he now considered Daniel to be a friend, Rodney really hadn't liked the man when he had arrived in Atlantis a few weeks ago. It was amazing how much things could change within the span of just a few weeks.

Rodney was vaguely aware of Jim rambling away in the front seat, about what he really didn't know, nor did he care. Sneaking a quick glance forward, Rodney noticed that he wasn't the only one. The airman driving the vehicle looked so bored that he might just shoot Jim in order to get him to shut up. And at this moment in time, Rodney almost wished that he would.

Turning his attention back to the window, Rodney returned to his staring. There was nothing really exciting about watching trees and grass and various bushes as they whipped past the window as they drove down the winding road that led down from the mountain, but it was the only thing that really appealed to him at the moment. His pessimistic nature was beginning to come out again making him envision several scary and rather gory procedures that he could, and as his brain liked to tell him would, be looking forward to. He knew that it was all just his imagination that the IOA would never do anything like that to them, but he really couldn't help it.

He was so focused on the scenery outside his window and the visions in his head that he never even noticed that there was trouble until there was a loud yell from the front seat followed by an even louder explosion (or what sounded like one) as the glass windows shattered. His stomached lurched in time with the SUV as it swerved first one way and then the other before tipping on its side. Rodney was fairly certain that it rolled a couple times, but he had his eyes squeezed closed and was mainly focused on not throwing up the entire time that he wasn't completely sure.

When everything finally came to a stop, all he heard was silence. A silence so deafening that he thought he was dead. It didn't really help that he hit his head or at least he though he did. What really clued him in was the fact that he couldn't really focus all that well.

"What the heck were you thinking?!" An angry voice shouted jerking Rodney into full awareness.

"I only did what you told me to," a second voice replied.

"I told you to stop them not potentially kill the merchandise," the first voice replied. He really sounded angry. "Get him out quickly. We need to get out of here before someone shows up."

Rodney was just about to pry his eyes open so he could see what was going on, not just listen when a loud screeching to his right alerted him to the fact that his door had just been wrenched open. Only seconds after that thought registered he felt himself being cut out of his seatbelt and then pulled from the vehicle. He was carried (although it felt more like being dragged) over to another vehicle where he was not so gently shoved inside. More than one door was slammed shut before they were speeding off leaving the scene of the accident behind.

Rodney wasn't quite sure what was going on, head wounds could do that to you. However, being as intelligent as he was (even more so now with the Ancient knowledge) he was able to piece together a few things. Someone knew about him and the knowledge he now had, they also knew when he was being transported away from the SGC, they knew exactly where and when he would be there, and they had caused an accident (he didn't even know if Jim and the airman driving were okay), all for one reason. He was being kidnapped. He had already been fearful of what might happen to him in the hands of the IOA, but now an unknown party had been added to the mix. At least with the IOA he was somewhat sure of his safety despite the images his imagination had provided, but now he had no idea what would happen.

There was only one thing he could do now, and that was hope for a rescue.

* * *

Daniel was just about to zip up his pack when he felt it, a feeling in the back of his mind that was trying really hard to get his attention. Trying so hard, in fact, that there was no way he would be able to ignore it. He didn't know exactly what it was, but he knew somehow that Rodney was in trouble. He dropped everything and rushed out of his office, not stopping even when the airman assigned to him began yelling his name. He ran straight to the stairs, bypassing the elevator entirely. He slammed the door open and rushed down the stairs before bursting out onto level 27. He knew exactly where Jack would be, which is why he ended up rushing into the briefing room when Landry was in the middle of a briefing.

"Dr. Jackson, what is the meaning of this?" Landry asked not unkindly. Only seconds later Ronon burst in though the other set of doors.

"Rodney's in trouble," Ronon and Daniel said at the same time.

"What?" Jack asked as he emerged from Landry's office. Luckily, though, he had heard everything. "What do you mean McKay's in trouble?"

"I don't know," Daniel replied. "I just feel it."

Ronon nodded emphatically from the other side of the room.

Jack knew Daniel well enough to know that he was serious, that and in one of his reports Beckett had mentioned that there could be some kind of telepathic communication between the three of them. Just as Jack was about to call the people responsible for McKay's transport the phone rang. Landry sprang to his feet and brushed past Jack so he could take the call. It was only a few seconds later that Landry dropped the receiver back into its cradle and looked at them with a grave expression.

"There was an accident, both the driver and Mr. Matthews are dead," Landry reported.

"What about Rodney?" Daniel asked. He shared a glance with Ronon and saw that he too was worried about their friend.

"The authorities searched the area, but there was no sign of Dr. McKay," Landry replied. He sucked in a deep breath before saying the words that he knew no one in that room wanted to hear. "Dr. McKay is missing."


End file.
